Dundee Heritage Trail boasts 30 landmarks
Pam gave a dispassionate history lesson that wowed those who followed the trail. The anecdotes were also legendary – like the one when the then-mayor climbed on top of a building on the corner of Victoria and Gladstone Street to announce the end of the war.
Dundee has 30 landmarks on the Heritage Trail in the central business district.
While the CBD is often criticised for its shoddy appearance and prevalence of car guards, it is still a historical gem. Pam McFadden, former Talana Museum curator, led a group of enthusiasts on a free tour of the trial starting at the Garden of Remembrance and Cenotaph honouring those who died in all wars for their country.
From the bakery oven that can still be seen in The Mews complex on Gladstone Street (formerly Williams Bakery was famed for its fresh bread), to the Boswells Building which was in the early 1900s considered the finest theatre in Northern KZN and also where the ‘Treason Trials’ after the Anglo Boer War were held, to the infamous curfew bell, which was situated where Capitec Bank now is… Dundee is a treasure trove.
The curfew bell rang at 10pm every night which was a signal that no black persons had to be off the streets. While the bell is no longer there, a plaque has been put up to reflect on the country’s divisive past.
Anyone wanting to collect a booklet on the Heritage Trial that includes places of interest in Glencoe can do so by going around to the Tourism Office.
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